Oh no! What happened to my puppy?
By Gina Spadafori
November 1, 2009
I’m pretty sure I had a puppy around here. But this morning I went out with the camera and this is the picture I got.
She’ll be seven months old in a week. She’s as tall as her mother. Those legs strongly suggest she’ll be taller.
.
.
At six weeks: Keen (Purple), Faith (Red) and Maya (pink)
.
I just found out the litter I was hoping to get a puppy from was all girls (and I wanted another boy) - sigh…..
I’m okay, though, as I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason. We weren’t looking for a puppy when Archer came into our lives from his breeder. He’d been through three homes when his breeder took him back at five months of age and called us. He needed us and since my husband had just lost his old dog, Dax, we needed Archer. We just didn’t know it at the time.
And now Archer is two. Whew!
So I know we’ll meet a puppy that needs us when the time is right.
Comment by Liz Palika — November 1, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
Liz … you need a bitch to keep those boys in line. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 1, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Nah….we’ve had bitches - Ursa, Kess, and Dax - but they tend to think I’m not too smart and that’s rough on the ego. The boys think I walk on water and I enjoy that! smile…..
Comment by Liz Palika — November 1, 2009 @ 4:43 pm
The uncritical adulation of fatuous boy-dogs is very bad for the ego. Enough male herding dogs pledging their fealty and following you around waiting to be sent on quests, and pretty soon you start to think you are the Queen. And then the Universe disagrees. Pop!
The bitches (motto: You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?) keep us honest.
Besides, the boys love having a real bitch around to provide needed smackdown.
Comment by H. Houlahan — November 2, 2009 @ 6:37 am
Hi,
Just wondering what kind of dog your new pup is? Our dog is a border collie mix and looks a lot like your dog…
Comment by JN — November 2, 2009 @ 8:40 am
Oh I agree that the adulation of herding breed boys is addictive! But….we had females for so many years my ego needs some boosting! snicker…So boys it is for a few more years. Or maybe this lifetime….That’s it! I’ll get girl dogs again in my next lifetime! I’ve had enough for this one.
Comment by Liz Palika — November 2, 2009 @ 9:39 am
Rapid growth in the legs is an adaptation in wolf pups that allows them to be able to travel and learn from their parents.
Most large-breed dogs retain this trait, which is why a lot of young retrievers go from being cute little bear cubs to gerenuks at about 4 months old.\
A gerenuk: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....erenuk.jpg
Comment by retrieverman — November 2, 2009 @ 10:02 am
A gerenuk!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 2, 2009 @ 10:58 am
Faith is a flat-coated retriever.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 2, 2009 @ 11:51 am
Well, I was just generalizing, but most adolescent large breed pups go through a gerenuk stage.
Comment by retrieverman — November 2, 2009 @ 5:08 pm
Holy cow, my kids are now 13 and 9, my dogs are almost 12, my cats are over 20, what happened? It was only yesterday they were babies, puppies, and kittens….
Comment by Nathan J, Winograd — November 2, 2009 @ 5:24 pm
A friend of mine mentioned that he had met me just around the time I met Heather, more than a dozen years ago. Yes, time flies, doesn’t it.
I still have the friend. Wish I still had Heather, too. What a great dog she was … I can’t believe she’s gone a month already.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 2, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
Oh, Ms Houlahan’s comment made me laugh! In Springers, I always say that the boys are earnest and the girls are impudent.
Comment by Martha M — November 2, 2009 @ 9:45 pm